Travel and Tourism Industry Outsourcing Services

Travel industry outsourcing can help your business improve operational efficiency, ensure timely delivery of services, and achieve high customer satisfaction ratings and retention. The travel and tourism industry is booming, as the sharing economy and digital business models have opened up new revenue streams in the market. But with new growth opportunities comes fierce competition, with pricing wars and discount coupons disrupting traditional profit streams. Call center outsourcing in the travel sector can be the difference-maker for businesses that have a critical need to reduce overhead, enhance multi-channel marketing and customer communications, and grow customer loyalty.

The highly-skilled, college-educated call center agents at Executive Boutique are trained to handle a variety of services for your travel and hospitality business, including:

• Booking rooms, flights, tours, concert tickets, and other travel reservations
• 24/7 multi-lingual customer support via phone, chat, or video
• Managing cancellations, last-minute itinerary changes, and travel emergencies
• Personalized customer care to travelers during, before, and after their trip, so that everyone feels treated like a VIP
• Customer billing
• Digital marketing and measuring campaign performance
• Data management

Travel and Tourism Industry: Pressure Is on to Keep Costs Low

The travel agency industry is absolutely exploding. According to a report from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the industry netted a global record of $8.8 trillion (trillion with a “t”) and 319 million jobs in 2018. The tourism sector as a whole accounted for 10.4% of the global economy that same year.

The travel and hospitality industry is under immense pressure to provide excellent customer service while keeping costs down. Outsourcing travel services to a world-class third-party agency like Executive Boutique can provide a cost-effective means of serving a high volume of customers without overburdening in-house staff.

Let’s explore some of the work the travel industry typically outsources to a third-party service provider like Executive Boutique.

Hotel Reservations

Hotels can outsource reservations and bookings to a call center. Most flight booking companies also partner with hotel booking sites to allow customers to reserve their flight tickets and make reservations for a hotel in a single call or online visit. At Executive Boutique, our friendly agents can interface with customers to make hotel and flight reservations, cancellations, room upgrades, or date changes. We service the entire hospitality industry, including the homestay and vacation rental sector.  

Itinerary Modifications

Our call center can reschedule a traveler’s flight to the next available date, make seating changes, or edit information for special needs passengers. Modifications may also include transportation arrangements from the airport to the hotel as well as car rental arrangements.

Outsourcing Travel Management

Some travel agencies prefer to use their in-house staff and resources to focus on serving preferred or repeat customers, such as VIP ticket-buyers and loyalty program members. These travel businesses save on cost by outsourcing customer support for all other customers. Outsourcing travel management has become an increasingly commonplace strategy for improving customer retention and conversion.

Prompt 24/7 customer support

Outsourcing travel agency services provides many advantages, including around-the-clock consolidated customer support. We are available to answer customer inquiries in real-time via multiple channels, including phone, webchat, and email. We answer customer questions with professionalism and courtesy. We can pull up the customer’s full itinerary and provide accurate and timely information. We also have a strict verification process in place to prevent fraudulent calls. Callers, regardless of time zone, can rely on us for a prompt response.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Travel Services

Most travel industry businesses outsource as a cost-cutting tool. Companies save immensely on costs associated with expanding an in-house department, such as employee benefits, training, and turnovers.

Beyond the cost-saving initiatives, companies are better able to meet the evolving expectations of travelers. Companies need to adapt to customer preferences, values, and expectations, which can vary greatly between key traveler demographics.

Another pertinent factor is personalization. Think of the retail giant Amazon, which makes recommendations based on customer search and purchase history. More travel agencies are following a similar business model. Executive Boutique can do the same and suggest add-on packages or other upsells based on previous customer bookings. This is a time-proven strategy; one survey revealed that 60% of customers found personalized offers to be “very important to winning their business.”

Outsourcing Travel Expense Management

Travel expense management applies to industries beyond the tourism and hospitality sector. Even in the digital age, more companies still value face-to-face meetings as a means of building long-term rapport. Companies may send select members of their team abroad for conducting meetings or conferences with VIP customers, sponsors, or investors. Executive Boutique handles data, invoices, payments, and reimbursements associated with business traveling. We take care of the logistics and scheduling for both the flight and lodging.

Invest in Outsourcing Today

Executive Boutique is a PCI-compliant call center proudly serving the travel and hospitality industries. Based in the Philippines, we work with clients from around the world. Leave the non-core duties in our hands while you direct your in-house resources where it matters most. Our dedicated, personable call center agents are trained and ready to manage any of your travel industry needs, including airline booking, car reservations, entertainment booking, hotel reservations, and much more. Our customer service skills are second to none. Call us today to see how we can help your travel sector business stay on top in this increasingly competitive industry.